Publications & Research
The New Learning Contract: Learning as the Organizing Principle
May 2026
This companion brief is the first in a series accompanying The New Learning Contract: California’s Path to Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education. It makes a foundational argument: that learning, not course completion, must be the organizing logic of higher education. The brief examines what that shift requires in practice, including how we assess competence, how faculty work is structured, and how prior learning gets recognized consistently across the system. Centering learning, the brief argues, is where the work of transformation begins.
What does it take to move the needle on student success?
April 2026
It starts with relationships.
Strengthening State-Institution Collaboration for Student Success offers 10 evidence-based recommendations from the PASS Project — a two-year initiative that engaged state and chief academic officers across Kentucky, North Carolina, Louisiana, and Wyoming at both two- and four-year institutions. Discover how to:
Build trust-driven partnerships between state & campus leaders
Co-design policies that institutions will implement
Use data as a tool for inquiry, not just compliance
Create a relational infrastructure that survives leadership turnover
Whether you’re a state academic officer or a campus academic officer, this practical guide — complete with real state examples, ready-to-use templates, and a Collaboration Maturity Model — gives you the tools to move from top-down mandates to authentic co-creation.
Because relationships aren’t a prerequisite for student success work. They are the work.
The New Learning Contract: California's Path to Direct Assessment Competency-Based Education
April 2026
Higher education was built for a different era. Today’s learners are most often working adults navigating an economy that demands skills but rewards degrees. The New Learning Contract, produced by Sova and funded by the College Futures Foundation, examines how California is leading a fundamental shift toward systems better aligned with the current economy and workforce demand. Drawing on real-world scenarios and conversations with faculty, administrative leaders, and researchers across California’s higher education community, the report maps the barriers and openings across system design, credentials, technology, employment integration, and funding. California has over five years of pilot infrastructure already underway. The report lays out what needs to come next and why. The answer, it argues, lies in building the conditions for equitable learning and mobility at scale.
Making Transfer Credit Evaluations More Student Focused
May 2025
Sova, with support from the College Futures Foundation, began studying credit evaluation practices at five public community colleges and universities in California in early 2024. The study aimed to understand how institutions evaluate credits, identify successes within the credit evaluation process, and pinpoint areas for improvement, with an eye toward policy ideas and practices that can improve credit evaluation processes at scale for both learners and institutions. Researchers analyzed data from focus groups, interviews, and mapping exercises with administrators, staff, and students from the five institutions.
2023 Transfer Improvement Landscape Scan
Aug 6, 2024
Based on a national scan of existing research and dozens of interviews, this summary report: a) describes what is known and not known about the effectiveness of the most common transfer improvement strategies, and b) offers key takeaways to inform policymakers and practitioners seeking to achieve better outcomes for baccalaureate-seeking community college students. For the longer version, please contact email@sova.org.
Revolution to Evolution: An Interview with Emile Pitre
May 1, 2023
Sova, in partnership with Ambassador Stories, conducted an in-depth interview with former University of Washington’s Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity (OMA&D) Associate Vice President, Emile Pitre. The interview series explored the personal account of Pitre’s lifelong work and decades of activism as captured in his new book Revolution to Evolution, The Story of the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity at the University of Washington.
Sova’s Turning the Mirror: Data Adult Learners of Color Want to See
March 9, 2023
Sova’s Turning the Mirror: Data Adult Learners of Color Want to See report, released today, shows that institutions, systems, and higher education leaders are focused on sharing data that isn’t viewed as relevant by the people who most need education to lead to social and economic advancement. What these learners want is more information about the things that matter to them, including what colleges are doing to create an environment of belonging and opportunity for busy adults.
Beyond Transfer Publications
The Beyond Transfer Policy Advisory Board’s publications seek to set conditions that center students and the recognition of their learning as they transfer across institutions and move through their varied lived, work and learning experiences beyond high school.
